A Gathering
by MisterJoke
Summary: A simple gathering of one-shots and short stories. Made up in whatever fictional universe catches my fancy at the time. Readers should feel free to steal any of these.
1. Chapter 1

A Gathering: A Seal Master's Brush:

AN: OK. I'm going to be completely honest with you guys. I write _a lot_. But I don't UPDATE my stories _a lot_, because I find it really hard to write _a lot_ about the same subject.

So, instead of leaving my one-shots abandoned, one failed back up away from being lost forever, I decided that I would post them, like a lot of authors do.

Now, unless a RIDICULOUS amount of people ask for it, I'm probably not going to continue any of this one-shots. If you like one, you can live with that, you can spam enough people on this site so that they pester me into giving it a go or you can do it yourself.

Each and everyone of these stories is up for adoption. I am willing to beta all of them. I am willing to be a sounding board for anyone that wants give them a go. In fact, I'm going to leave a small AN on the end of each story to let you guys know how I would continue it, if anyone decides to try.

I just ask you guys to really try it, you know? Don't just re-write all the usual cliches that fill every section of these website. It's ok if your first, second or hundredth fanfiction is not good, it's by trying new things, not copying what you see that you can make something that truly expands whatever fictional universe you are messing with.

Last thing: These little exercises of the mind are not going to be restricted to one series. I'm starting with Naruto and continuing with whatever catches my fancy.

"Well... My name is Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to tell you about my likes and dislikes... Dreams for the future... hmm..? And I have a lot of hobbies."

The three genin weren't even close to pleased with the introduction, but how would they go about demanding more information from their new teacher?

Sasuke just pretended he didn't care. Sakura complained inside her head, though her face showed her frustration. But Naruto, well, he asked. Loudly.

"What the hell, man!?" he complained "You only told us your name!"

Kakashi, his future teacher and probably the most feared jonin of Konoha, blinked twice and nodded "I guess you can go next then."

But Naruto shook his head and frowned "I don't want to go next! I want to know about you! What kind of jutsu do you know? What are you going to teach us? Talk to us, man!"

The teacher looked as bored as ever. Then, he turned to the pink kunochi and told her "Fine... You can go first."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and then shook his head, rolling said eyes. Then, he pulled a small notebook from his pocket and started drawing on it with a brush that he never dipped in paint, and seemed to have pulled from behind his ear. Hatake looked a little surprised by this, but Sasuke and Sakura didn't even look twice.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like, well... The person I like is... Kya!" all the men on the team winced at the volume of her voice, but didn't say anything. After every other word, Sakura's eyes would dart to Sasuke and back "My dream for the future... I-I want to-no! I WILL... Kyaaah!"

Despite himself, Sasuke couldn't help but blush just a little. A girl had pretty much confessed to him, them and there. An avenger he might be, but he was still a boy.

'I guess girls her age care more about love then jutsu, huh?' thought the jonin-sensei, but what he said was just "Ok, next."

Sasuke had his fingers crossed in front of his eyes, which he kept locked on the jonin "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And... I guess I can't really call it a dream... But I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and... To kill a certain man."

The top kunochi of their year though the Sasuke looked really cool and Kakashi was disappointed. But Naruto was simply blowing the paint dry.

There was silence for a long while, Kakashi just looked bored and Naruto started working on another page. The Uchiha was getting more and more annoyed with the waste of his time and Sakura felt the silence was getting more and more awkward.

"Na-Naruto! Introduce yourself!" she finally shouted, and immediately blushed red when all eyes turned to her, covering her mouth with her hands.

But the Uzumaki finally spoke "Tch! Name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like the feel of paper, the smell of ink and the taste of ramen. I hate being bored and being interrupted when I'm working!" he grumbled while looking at the pink haired girl "My dream is to visit Uzushiogakure no Sato (Village Hidden by Swirling Tides.)."

Naruto's apartment was filled with paper. Notebooks and scrolls were everywhere, from numerous shelves to the floor. There were some dozens of random pieces glued to the walls and the ceiling. Not that the blond cared, no he was usually too busy when at home.

Like right now, instead of worrying about the 'real genin' test him and his team would take tomorrow, the boy was inspecting two identical tags with a smirk. Both had seemly random drawings on them, some kanji, some odd symbols in another language. The only difference between them were the words "Owner" and "Thief" written, one in each.

His latest master piece, the Chakra Stealing Seal, would work great to make sure his team never got too tired to fight. Not that he would present the solution without insulting the Uchiha in some way, thus the name. Naruto's smirk dropped when he wondered how to test this things.

The Uzumaki wasn't really tall for his age, just a touch smaller then Sasuke but still taller then his other teammate. Naruto usually wore baggy, orange pants and a black shirt with a large, red, Uzushio Swirl taking up all of his back. His shirts had no sleeves, allowing anyone to see the seals he had tattooed to his arms, in seemingly random places and with no clear function. If only people saw the rest of him. When geared up, he carried with him four scrolls in his waist, all parallel to the floor, looking somewhat like a belt, and two scrolls attached to outside of each of his legs, along with one stuck to the small of his back. The blond's hitai-ate went on the right side of his skull, instead of his forehead.

Naruto also had some of those tattoos on his face. There was a black circle around his left eye, with a line coming from the edge of it that ran straight into his hair and disappeared there. The line had five symbols that ran along it, two above and three below. He also had two odd symbols marking his neck, just bellow his right ear, with the kanji for 'Nami' (Wave) between them.

It had been a long standing argument in the academy: Were Naruto's tattoos really seals? Some said they weren't, but others claimed they had seen the Uzumaki activate them. Then there was the fact that no student had ever seen a ninja with seals written on his or hers skin.

Finally, grinning with an idea, the Uzumaki launched the "Thief" seal towards a wall. It flew faster then any kunai the boy could throw and landed against another seal there. Then, the blond placed the "Owner" seal on his forehead and pushed chakra into it. Eyes focused on the wall, the genin's smiled turned smug "Of course it works." he nodded, when the wall turned transparent.

"Yeah, before we get started there's something important I need to say." Naruto announced with a raised hand.

The entire team blinked. Kakashi had arrived three hours late and revealed to his team that he had tricked them into not eating breakfast, then explained the bell test. And just as the jonin had told his team to 'come at him with intent to kill', Naruto had raised his hand.

"Twelve years ago the Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) attacked Konoha and was killed by the Yondaime (Forth) Hokage. True or false?" he asked.

Sakura, the girl with the best grades in the academy couldn't help but answer "True..." she said, but was clearly confused.

And Naruto nodded "Wrong. A Biju is a shitload of chakra that managed to form a conscience, there are nine and they can't die." he explained, much to the shock of everyone else. Hell, even Kakashi was left with his mouth opened, even if for a completely different reason then two of his students. Was Naruto going to...?

"The only way to beat them is by sealing all that chakra away! Jutsu are completely worthless, no matter how many you know!" Naruto explained, smirking at the Uchiha. And that was enough to break the boys trance, if only for him to glare at the Uzumaki "That's what the Yondaime did. He gave his life to power the most amazing seal in existence... And sealed the fox into my stomach." he finished in a completely uninterested voice while lifting his shirt and showing them the Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style).

Oddly enough, it was Sasuke who took a long look at Naruto's stomach, as if hoping to see the Kyuubi, then turned to the blond and asked "Uzumaki, why are you telling us this?"

The blond huffed, lowered his shirt and narrowed his eyes "Because even if I don't like you, Uchiha, we're teammates now." he explained, before loosing his glare "I need to trust you all, just like you need to trust me. And, you have the right to know. You have the right to ask to be moved to another team."

Then, there was silence again. Sakura really was considering running away. The only reason she was still here was because her Sasuke-kun seemed to be thinking hard, and he looked sooooo cool when he was like that.

"I don't care." the Uchiha finally announced "I don't like you either, Uzumaki. But you're strong, you're the only genin I know that won't slow me down much. I'm staying." he announced, before turning to Sakura and waiting.

The pink haired genin was close to hyper ventilating. The Kyuubi! Right in this training ground, locked on her teammate's stomach by ink! And why in his stomach of all places? Is that why the blond always ate so much, back in the academy? She wanted to run, run away screaming but she couldn't change teams! She had managed to get into Sasuke-kun's team! This-This must be another test of love! Yeah! That makes perfect sense! Shannaro!

"I-I'm staying too! W-We're all together here..." she trailed off, looking at Sasuke with a blush on her face. Both boys cursed a little, in their heads, when she decided to stay.

Kakashi chose not to see the blush, not to see the insults and focused on the facts how he wanted to. He saw that one of his new students had shared his darkest secret with the other two, and they had accepted him despite it. It seems like he wouldn't have to teach them much.

"I'm glad to hear all this." he announced, before his students looked at him and remembered the bell test "Don't worry about the test, you all pass. I'm sure you kids are good enough, for genin." the jonin told them with a little more happiness then they were used too "You guys are dismissed for today, see you tomorrow at eight for our first mission!"

Then he disappeared in a Shunshin, leaving the confused and stunned Team 7.

It took a moment, but Naruto shook himself awake "Well... See you guys tomorrow I guess..." he said, and walked away.

The Uchiha grunted his agreement and left as well, but unfortunately for him Sakura had just passed another love challenge and wanted a date as a reward.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Tora! (Summoning Technique: Tiger!)"

Much to the surprise and relief of the people in the room, Naruto did not, in fact, summon a tiger. He simply dragged Tora, the Daimyo's wife's cat, from wherever the beast was. And when the cat tried to run, Sasuke reached down and tossed the thing towards it's owner, before Tora could scratch him.

Kakashi took a single look at his team's actions and nodded "That's team work..." he said, before going back to his little orange book.

"Hokage-jiji." Naruto began, with a surprisingly respectful tone that still should have gotten him reprimanded by the village's leader "I'm good enough for a C-Rank, stop making us do these chores!" he all but ordered.

Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Sandaime Hokage. The Shinobi no Kami. Definitely one of the ten most powerful man to ever live, just smiled and turned to Kakashi "Tell me, sensei. Are your students ready for a C-Rank?"

Kakashi quickly put his book away, knowing Hiruzen did NOT have a soft spot for him, like the old man had for the Uzumaki 'I'm sure Sasuke and Naruto can handle it, and I'm sure they'll protect Sakura as well...' "As long... As it's not a very hard one..."

"Very well, I'll trust your judgement Kakashi." the Sandaime announced, pleased to see Naruto smiling so smugly. There was something about the boy's confidence/arrogance that the Sandaime found incredibly amusing "A merchant is planning on making a very large sale in a town called Tanzako-gai. Your team is to escort him, his daughter and all of his merchandise safely there and back."

"Sounds good, for a start." said Naruto, before turning to Hatake "So? When do we leave?"

The jonin blinked, looked up while pretending to think and answered "... Tomorrow? Yeah, gear up and we'll met up at the gate. Ten in the morning sounds good."

After the elite ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Sakura turned to her team-mates "Do you think he'll be late for the mission as well, Sasuke-kun?"

"Huh/Duh!" the Uchiha and the Uzumaki answered in surprising synchrony.

Sakura was the first to arrive at the meeting place, like always. And like always, she just had to wait a few moments for her Sasuke-kun to get there as well. Naruto was another matter entirely, while he was never as late as their sensei, the blond was also almost never on time.

Except this time, Kakashi wasn't late and he brought the clients with him "Well, this is embarrassing... Where's Naru-Oh! There he is."

In a surprising show of punctuality, Uzumaki was only a few minutes late and so the jonin started the introductions "Well, these are Ito Daisuke-sama and Ito Chinatsu-sama. They're counting on us to make sure their trip is pleasant and secure." he explained, then turned to the clients "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I am a jonin and these are my students Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura."

Naruto wasn't playing much attention, instead the blond was popping his shoulder, which he was almost sure he had slept on. Not that it mattered much, the client had his eyes focused on Sasuke 'Uchiha? I've heard of them before...' he thought to himself.

When it became clear, to Sakura, that her team-mater were NOT going to be polite, she turned to the clients with a nervous smile ready to greet them. The smile dropped when she took one good look at the, slightly, younger girl's face.

Contrary to the girl's name, she did not represent 'A Thousand Summers'. Large, round glasses and black hair hid most of her face, and what wasn't hidden was blushing bright red. Chinatsu had darker skin then the people from Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) and her entire head turned from Naruto to Sasuke, and back again, over and over while she seemed to try and decide on who she would crush on. Naruto looked dangerous, with that easy, confident, almost bored look and all those tattoos he had. All in all, the blond looked like the exact kind of guy she was told to stay away from. The Uchiha on the other hand, he was so serious, so intense, soooooo cool that it actually scared her to look at him too much... But just a little bit was fine.

"Aren't they a little young to be doing this job?" the elder Ito asked, his eyes moving over all three genin, though he didn't focus on Naruto as long as on the other two.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and dropped a little of his professionalism "I started a lot younger..." he commented, before continuing "But don't worry, I can handle any bandits in the road. Should anything happen to my students."

The client decided to believe the jonin and so they were off. Ito had also hired a carriage, for him and his daughter, and two wagons, to carry his products, so Kakashi told his genin to climb on one each and they were off.

"Do you want to ask about it?"

Chinatsu turned bright red, something she had done a lot since the trip started, when Naruto talked to her. Despite the fact that he was sitting on the carriage's roof, starring straight ahead. She was the one staring at him, perched half way out the window.

The girl bit her lip and considered pulling herself inside, but found her courage somewhere deep inside "I-I-It?" even if not much of it.

"The ink." he explained easily, still staring straight ahead "Or maybe the blond hair? My teeth? What scares you the most?" he asked, finally turning towards her and smiling mockingly, making sure she could see his pointy canines.

The blond's mocking did little to calm her nerves, so the girl actually stuttered an answer "The... T-The i-ink..." she almost whispered.

"It's part of my jutsu (technique)." the blond explained, reaching behind his ear and making a brush appear from nowhere. He talked while twirling it "It's called _Fuinjutsu _(Sealing Techniques). I use the ink to make my chakra move in a certain way, to get a certain effect." he explained.

Chinatsu took a moment to think and decided that it seemed simple enough, there was only one problem: she was a civilian "What's chakra?"

"It's what ninja use do the awesome things we do."

It took her a few moments to realise that Naruto wasn't going to say anything. Chinatsu also realised that he had stopped paying attention to her, and started writing on one of his scrolls. Completely depressed, after losing his attention, the girl sulked back inside the carriage.

It was hours later when Kakashi told all the carriages to stop.

"Hatake-san? What seems to be the problem?" Ito asked, already getting out of his cart.

Kakashi lifted his hand to stop the man and spoke "Stay inside Ito-sama, there are bandits in the woods ahead." he explained, his single eye darting from one spot of the forest to another.

Finally, the jonin sighed, pulled his little orange book and ordered "Sasuke and Naruto, go deal with them."

The Uchiha grunted his agreement quickly, while the Uzumaki took his time popping his back into place. Then, they were off. Walking into the woods.

When the team-mates lost sigh of the carriage's, they also stopped paying attention to each other. Sasuke quickly jumped up, landing on a tree branch and taking off.

Not that the blond genin cared. He simply made half a Ram Seal and activated the Toton Fuin (Transparent Scape Seal), one of his favourite creations. Naruto disappeared without a trace, but he still could be heard running somewhere.

It didn't even take a minute for the Uzumaki to find a bandit, in fact he found three. Two where armed with bows and another had a spear, they were staring intently at the road Team 7's client had chosen to take.

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" one of them whispered to the others.

Only to get jabbed by an elbow "Shh! Boss said they had ninja with them! Said not to talk!"

Glaring, but quiet, the first bandit turned back to the road. None of them noticed the sealing tag flying, quickly, and landing on the tree they were hidden behind. But they all heard Naruto speaking.

"Kai. (Release.)"

When the explosion rocked the woods, the blond genin made sure to stay perfectly still even if his eyes were darting around the forest. The bandits hidden around him didn't seem to know if it was best to try to retreat, gather their force or stay perfectly still. In Naruto's humble opinion, staying was the dumbest thing they could do.

If the blond genin was visible, the kanji for "Nami" on his neck would have glowed bright blue. But even if it couldn't be seen, no one would hide from the Uzumaki.

It took a long time for the explosions to stop, and after that it still took some time for Naruto and Sasuke to return. And they were arguing when they did.

"Skill? You call that skill? A monkey could have done the same with that many explosive tags!" Sasuke spit out, not yelling but refusing to look at the other boy.

"Tch!" was Naruto's first answer "A monkey can't make those tags! We know you can't. Won't be able to even when you manage that copy-monkey eye of yours!"

The Uchiha huffed and then smirked "Are you jealous? When I have the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) I can learn all of your fuinjutsu with a single glance."

And the blond snorted "Just try it! I'll be more then happy to explain to everyone why you blew yourself to hell."

"Now, now." Kakashi finally broke in, already tired of their argument "Since you are both here and the bandits are taken care off, I think you both did ok."

Then, Ito cleared his throat and spoke "Hatake-san, how many men would you say there were?"

Kakashi took another look at the road they would take and nodded "Forty three."

Then Naruto chipped in "Yeah, but the Uchiha let a few of them get away."

"If it weren't for you I could have picked them all of! Without they even knowing I was there!" Sasuke growled.

But the blond genin snorted and shrugged his shoulders "And it would only take you all day."

Kakashi gathered all of Team 7 around him, while he watched their client order his workers around. It seemed Ito had already travelled to Tanzako-gai once before and hired plenty of help for his business deal.

The jonin was reading one of his books while resting his back against a wall on the inside of the store, Naruto was cross-legged on the ground, working as usual, while Sasuke just crossed his arms and waited. Sakura didn't miss a second in admiring her crush. All was well until the avenger spoke "Sensei." he grumbled "Can you teach us something?" he asked, refusing to meet the man's eye while asking.

"Something? I've taught you plenty..." Kakashi told them, turning a page on his book.

And that was enough for Naruto to enter the conversation "Plenty? When the hell was that? What did I miss?" he asked, in his usual outdoor voice.

"About the same as me." his rival answered "Maybe he's giving Sakura private lessons?"

As one, the pair turned to glare at the their pink haired team-mate. Who quickly defended herself "No! Sasuke-kun! I swear he didn't teach me anything either!" she wasn't quiet about it either.

"Hey, hey." Kakashi interrupted "What about those hunting formations I showed you guys?"

"Tch! They're great for catching Tora, but what about people? They fight back you know!" Naruto pretty much shouted, pointing his brush at their teacher.

The silver haired jonin raised an eyebrow "You boys handled those bandits pretty well... Didn't they fight back?"

This time, Sasuke grunted his disagreement "They didn't even realised that the explosions were coming from Uzumaki's paper tags..."

While all three genin glared at their teacher, they were approached by Ito. The old man had an annoyed look on his face and he didn't waste a moment before starting to speak "Hatake-san! Please go and teach them something! Anything! The noise is disturbing my workers!"

With four people starring at him now, Kakashi gave out a long suffering sigh and nodded. With a quick hand seal, and a whispered "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. (Shadow Clone Technique.)" another Kakashi appeared next to him. The clone left the shop without saying a word, after taking three kunai from Kakashi's hand.

"Go after him." the jonin recommended "I'll stay and watch the client." without taking his eye of the little orange book.

Sasuke and Naruto were off like lightning, Sakura only moved when she realised she was the only genin left.

Only Kakashi noticed the girl that followed his genin team.

Standing sideways on the trunk of a tree as if it was nothing, the Kakashi-Bunshin nodded to his students "And this is Tree Walking. Have fun." he told them and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three genin looked at each other, the kunai at their feet and decided to give it a try.

Sasuke managed four steps before his feet slipped from the bark and had to angle himself, to fall in a crouch.

Sakura managed to climb all the way to the first branch on her first try!

Naruto... He blew up the bark on his first step.

The Uchiha didn't smirk at his rival. So what if he did better then Naruto? Neither would ever admit it because they both lost to Sakura.

Still, this went on for a few more minutes. Sakura, and their hidden watcher, looked on as Sasuke managed another step or two every try and Naruto continued to fail epically. Until the blond genin got tired of it.

"This is ridiculous! Sakura, how the hell did you manage it on your first try?" he shouted/asked the girl.

And she almost didn't answer, until she saw Sasuke was also paying attention. This was her time to shine! "You're putting too much chakra into it, Naruto. And Sasuke-kun is loosing some with every step... I-I think, Sasuke-kun!" she amended quickly, what if she came off sounding like a know-it-all?

Not that either of the boys were worried about that, they both made a serious face, nodded and got back to work. Except that each 'work' were two different things.

The Uchiha started adding a little bit of chakra to his feet after every step and managed to run twice as long, until he blew up the bark and flew away from the tree.

The Uzumaki, on the other hand, sat down and pulled both his boots out. Then, he made his brush appear from behind his ear and got to work. He started off writing in a scroll, drawing half a dozen seals with small differences between them and called it enough. Naruto them chose one seemingly at random and drew it on his boots, before wearing them again.

When the blond genin tried running up the tree again the explosion was only half of the first ones "Damn..." he muttered to himself, before sitting down and pulling another brush from behind his other ear. This one did the job of erasing the ink from his sole.

His work was interrupted by Sakura "Naruto that's cheating!" she complained.

The blond meet her eyes for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders "So what?"

"And what do you plan to do if you loose one of your boots in battle?" came Sasuke's voice from a branch, half way up the tree.

And the whisker-marked genin rolled his eyes "I'm going to write the best 'Jougo Fuin (Funnel Seal)' on the sole of my feet, not on my boots."

When Naruto managed his second step up the tree, he also managed to run all it's length. And Sakura watched, gritting her teach and fuming inside. It was the very first thing, outside of book knowledge, that she was better at then the rest of her team.

Honestly, she didn't mind Sasuke catching up to her, and then besting her, that's just things were. But for Naruto to just cheat past her only talent? Inner-Sakura had plenty to rant on about that...

"I have a question." the announcement was made without stuttering, so it took the pink haired genin a moment to identify the voice. She looked down at the same time that the Uzumaki shouted "Oh, Chinatsu-chan! You finally came out!"

And then the girl was a blushing mess again "Y-Yes, Na-Naruto... Naruto-kun..." she almost whispered the last word. Which pleased Sakura a great deal, it seemed their client had chosen to crush on her blond team-mate. Very good, the female genin would hate to have to beat up the other girl.

Still, Sakura's musings were interrupted by Chinatsu's voice, once again "I said I have a question." the girl told her with narrowed eyes. Confused, Sakura dropped down from the branch she was on and waited for the girl to speak. And speak she did "Why did your sensei not send you with them against the bandits?"

The question caught Sakura completely of guard, as did the suspicion with which it was asked "I.. I just don't have a lot of offensive jutsu!" she quickly defended herself.

But the other girl didn't look like she believed it "Really? Then what kind of jutsu do you have?"

The pink haired genin allowed her eyes to find the rest of her team, and was glad to see that both boys were completely focused on the exercise "Well, I can do the Kawamiri no Jutsu (Replacement Technique), and the Henge (Transformation)! And, and the Bunshin (Clone)! Not to mention I know Taijutsu (Body Techniques), Shuriken Jutsu (Throwing Stars) and-" by then, Sakura was already bragging, but she was interrupted.

"Wait! Isn't Shuriken Jutsu offensive?" Chinatsu asked, her eyes narrowed while she waited for an answer to her accusation.

Then, Sakura gulped "Well... Yes, I'm just not very good at it..."

And the other girl lost her interest then, huffing Chinatsu turned back to watch the boys training "You don't look like you're good at the other ones either." was the last thing she told Sakura.

An hour later found Team 7, and their youngest client, having lunch. Ramen, since Naruto had just decided where they would eat and dragged the blushing and stuttering Chinatsu with him.

Both him and the Uchiha were in good spirits. Sasuke was glad that he had learned a new skill, and that his rival had to 'cheat' to do the same. Naruto had learned how to walk on walls and was eating ramen. Sakura... Wasn't in nearly as good mood. Her Sasuke-kun hadn't praised her at all, despite how well she did in the exercise, and the Uzumaki had cheated! And nobody seemed to care! Even worse, Chinatsu seemed to have decided that Sakura was dragging the team down! Whenever Naruto wasn't around she would stop stuttering and say so!

Chinatsu was just starring at the hand Naruto touched, blushing and not eating. It was only a matter of time before the blond genin stole her food.

And when he did, he also decided to break the silence "Say, Chinatsu-chan? Why did you follow us? Too boring back there?"

"I-I just wanted too see your training..." she mumbled, worried about his reaction.

"Eh? Really? Well, you picked a pretty boring session!" he told her, shaking his head in disappointment "Oh, I know! Let's finish eating and I'll show you some of my cooler jutsu!"

With that he inhaled her ramen quickly and grabbed her hand again, dragging the girl to the same clearing from before. And then, Sakura noticed she was alone with her crush.

"Say, Sasuke-kun..." she started, only for the boy to get up and pay for his food.

"I'm going to do some training as well." he told her and walked away.

Just as Sakura was about to follow, a voice caught her attention "Hey, miss! You still have to pay for your food! And for the other two!"

"Kai: Koutetsu no Bakuha! (Release: Explosion of Steel!)" Naruto shouted, holding one of his scrolls in his right hand and having unrolled plenty of it with his left. The result was the a massive cloud of smoke, from which flew hundreds of shuriken. They cut through the air and struck almost everything in the blond's field of vision.

The aspiring seal master turned to the flabbergasted girl next to him "Awesome, huh?"

When she nodded but didn't say anything, he grew more smug "And that isn't even the best part!" he announced, much to Chinatsu's surprise. Putting the scroll down, he ran through a few hand seals and slapped his hands against the paper "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Shuriken. (Summoning Technique: Throwing Star.)"

And the weapons currently piercing the trees, the ground and some laying around after hitting rocks all disappeared in small clouds of smoke. When a huge cloud of smoke appeared right in front of them, Naruto quickly ran through more hand seals and slapped his palms against the scroll again "Fuin! (Seal!)" he announced.

Then he got up, opened the scroll again and aimed for the same area "Kai: Koutetsu no Bakuha!" and steel flew again.

And, even hours later, Naruto and Chinatsu were sited on the ground. The forest around them was littered with throwing weapons, scorch marks and the odd chain wrapped around a tree. But all that wasn't what they were looking at. The genin and the girl had their eyes on the cat she was petting.

Brown fur, red ribbon on the left ear. Yes, it was Tora, the royal pet of the Fire Daimyo's family.

"D-Did you really bring h-her away the way from Konoha?" the shy girl asked, petting the cat and trying to stutter as little as possible.

The Uzumaki nodded "Yeah, it's pretty hard work to pull it off. And I can only drag it so far because I have more chakra then normal, but I painted the seal on it myself!" then he laughed, loudly enough for the girl to duck her head "There's probably some poor bastards in Konoha being hired to track it right now! Hahaha!"

Risking a look at the intimidating boy, Chinatsu asked "And... And w-what happens if they c-can't find him?"

Then, Naruto's smirk was down right evil "Then they fail the job, everybody does until they hire my team and I drag it back from where ever she went."

"But... But Isn't that mean..?"

The blonds smile got a little smaller, and a lot smugger "Sure it is. But it's ok to be mean once in a while. Besides, there's a reason the cat runs so often. If you ask it, I'm not being mean at all." he explained, before laying on his back and crossing his arms behind his head.

Chinatsu took a long look at the cat in her lap. He looked absolutely starving for gentle petting, and didn't look like Tora wanted her to stop any time soon "Are... Are you taking him back to Konoha with us?"

And Naruto shook his head "I don't feel like dragging it to a place neither of us wants be at..."

"You don't want to be in Konoha?" the surprise did wonders in ending her hesitancy.

Again, the blond shook his head "I don't like living there. But leaving would be more trouble then it's worth..."

Again, Chinatsu didn't even think before asking "T-Trouble?" but she did stutter.

And this time, Naruto nodded "Yeah, if a ninja takes off without permission (yawn)... Well, he gets labelled as a missing-nin. He's hunted down and killed, that way he can't spread the village's secrets. Living on the run (yawn)... It doesn't sound nice at all."

When the girl finally realised her companion was getting tired, Naruto was already asleep and she had no idea what to do. The blond looked so peaceful, drooling away in the grass. In the end, Chinatsu just watched him and blushed for a long time.

AN: And that's that. Hope one of you guys like it enough to give it a go! Now, if anyone is interested, this is how I would continue the story:

Keep Naruto away from Wave, we've all seen a dozen different ways that particular Arc can go. And a thousand of the original way it can happen (even if people insist theirs is an AU).

Don't have him rediscover the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God). The idea that we, not the author, gave ourselves when it comes to sealing, is that it can be used to do anything!... And a Seal Master-Naruto never does anything different then explosive tags, sealing scrolls, weight seals and the Hiraishin... And anti-rape seals, every once in a while...

Be creative. Have him beat an enemy by creating a seal that sticks to any surface, using the guy's chakra, and planting it on the guy's back. Then knocking him down. Good seals, bad seals, funny seals, not-funny seals, etc.

Do whatever you want when it comes to relationships. Naruto looks scary, so shy little Hinata would probably be terrified of him. Ino might like a bad boy more then a lonely prince. And I might be completely wrong about all that, you decide.

Don't go with what you think the readers will like, with what cannon did. Sasuke doesn't need to be alive in Shippuden. But he also doesn't need to be with Orochimaru. Sakura doesn't need to be Tsunade's apprentice.

And, more importantly... Have fun, Mister Writer.


	2. Chapter 2

A Gathering: A Blue-Haired Saiyan:

"So, Gohan, is there anything you want to tell me?" asked Bulma.

Son Bulma, formerly Briefs, was a beautiful young woman with short and light blue hair. She was wearing a blue tank top, white shorts and no shoes. Her husband had gotten the family into the habit of going barefooted at home.

Right now, Bulma had her arms crossed and a frown on her face. She was also tapping her foot while waiting for her son's answer.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, mommy..." he tried.

Gohan was the pride and joy of both of his parents, when he hadn't done anything wrong. Which he usually didn't, but was becoming more common. Both knew what Gohan had done wrong, since it was the only thing he did despite his mother's protest. He had used his father's Gravity Chamber.

The Gravity Chamber was a room created by Bulma to enhance Goku's training, after all, every time the man defeated the latest threat to the world, another would show up. At the time Bulma was pregnant with Gohan and decided that Goku couldn't just barely defeat Piccolo, the latest of the villains to threaten their world, Goku needed to be able to beat him with a hand tied behind his back. Otherwise their baby wouldn't be safe.

Goku loved training and loved the idea of his child being safe, so he really abused the machine, forcing Bulma to upgrade it more then once. And now that Gohan had started training as well he wanted to use it too, but wasn't allowed, the boy was simply too young. Despite the machine only reaching three times Earth's gravity.

Now the reason Gohan was being trained as a martial artist despite being four was, oddly enough, to control his strength. A few months back when Bulma had taken her child to the playground an older kid had tried to bully one of little Gohan's friends. His mom had gone to buy something for him to drink and he couldn't ask another adult for help, since Bulma told him not to talk to strangers, so he had to do something himself.

And he did. Gohan pushed the bully, hard, and the kid was flew five feet before falling. Since none of the adults saw this, none of them believed it, except for Bulma. She had seen the things the boy's father had been capable of, so she really shouldn't have been surprised.

"Reeeeeaaally?" she asked, giving the boy another chance to confess. When he remained silent, she continued "So let me tell you, Gohan, something I've already told you, but I think you forgot. Every computer here has a register of what they did and when, including the one in the Gravity Chamber."

The boy flinched at that, he had gotten so excited with his training that he forgot to erase the log, even if his mom didn't know he knew how to do that.

He kick some dirt with his feet and spoke "I'm sorry, mommy... It's just Erasa wanted to see me lift this big boulder in the park and I was barely able to get it of the ground..." his voice cracking and his dark blue eyes glistening with tears.

Bulma sighed, she should have know it would have something to do with her son's little girlfriend. And she couldn't even scold him any more, Bulma knew she should but there was no way she was going to be able to.

Gohan's turquoise bangs had fallen over one of his eyes and the other was tearing up... Sometimes she wondered if her baby really didn't know how cute he was. Either way, Erasa would have quite a few rivals over Gohan while they grew up.

Gohan was, specially in her opinion, a bright, caring and beautiful boy. Both his eyes and hair were the same color as his mother's but his hair spiked like Goku's. Though while Goku's spike up, Gohan's went down, covering the back of his neck and part of his forehead, while framing his face in turquoise locks. His skin matched his mother's, but like his father... Well, he had a tail. A monkey tail that was the reason his mother would never let him outside on a full moon.

Shame Bulma just couldn't bring herself to "mutilate" her baby by cutting it.

"Hey, Bulma, Gohan! What's going on?" came Goku's voice as he entered the living room of their home. Said home happened to be in the Capsule Corporation main laboratory, Bulma had to work after all.

Smiling to her husband, Bulma skipped over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek "Goku, I'm going to get ready for the get-together at Kame House, so you'll have to scold Gohan for using the Gravity Chamber again."

She also ran off before Goku could protest, and he would. It was impossible to scold Gohan, you always felt like you were the one doing wrong!

With a sigh he turned to his child, the boy had been able to control the moisturizing of his eyes. Goku just hoped that didn't change "Alright, Gohan. Tell me why you did it." he said, while kneeling before the boy.

"Because Erasa wanted to see me lift something really heavy..." his lips were quivering.

Goku was already angry at himself for causing the quivering, no wonder Bulma said that if the boy ever tried to get out of control, they would be completely unable to stop him.

"And you know why you can't do it, right?" the father asked.

With a nod, Gohan explained "Due to the fact that I am still in the earliest stages of my body's development. Trying to enhance my muscular structure, now, can have detrimental effects on my growth and can easily cause severe and light injuries, specially to my bone structure and ligaments."

Goku had a lot of trouble following that, but he had understood it somewhat after his wife had explained it to him for a third time. Muscular training now would probably injury Gohan and keep him short, and Goku remembered being short, that wasn't fun at all.

"So the next time Erasa asks for something like that, you are going to tell her why you can't get any stronger right now. OK?"

But Gohan shook his head "But I've tried! She doesn't understand no matter how many times I explain!" complained the boy, shaking his arms in desperation.

Goku mussed on that for a moment before having an idea "Why don't you try using shorter words?"

The boy tilted his head cutely to the side and asked "What do you mean, dad?"

"Just tell her that it would hurt you and keep you short!" explained the father, while smiling to his son "But not right now." said Goku, when his kid moved towards the door "Today you are going to meet some old friends of your mom and dad, OK?"

Gohan just nodded enthusiastically and Goku decided that he could get away with not grounding the boy, he had actually felt sick the one time they did.

* * *

Since Bulma still couldn't ride on the Flying Nimbus, the Son family took a Capsule Corp chopper to go to Kame island. Gohan could never figure out which way he preferred to fly. The chopper was too slow, but the Nimbus was so fast the boy couldn't really see the scenery. And what was the point of flying without a view?

When they arrived, there was a rather odd, in Gohan's opinion, group waiting for them. There was a bald old man with a giant beard and turtle shell on his back, a turtle and another bald man, this one smaller and younger. There was also a pig-man. When they left the chopper there were a lot of greetings and smiles.

Through it all, Gohan learned that the men were called Master Roshi and Krillin and the pig-men was Oolong. And then Krillin noticed Gohan.

"Uh... Goku, Bulma? Who's that?" he asked, while pointing at the boy.

But it was Goku's son who choose to answer "It's nice to meet you! I'm Gohan!"

"Gohan..?" asked Master Roshi.

"Yes." said Bulma, pulling Gohan so he was between her and Goku "This is our baby!" she smiled.

"WHHHAAAAAT!" yelled the two balds.

While Goku and Bulma found the situation amusing, their son was a little confused "Who else could be my mom and dad?" he asked, using his tail to point at his hair, since he had been told his dad used to have a tail too.

Master Roshi and Krillin were very concerned about Gohan's tail, for some reason the boy didn't understand. Still, all was well until Goku tensed and stared at the ocean.

"There's someone coming. He's strong, stronger then Piccolo." he warned "Gohan, get your mother inside the hou-"

But before he could finish, a man appeared. He was dressed in some kind of black and brown armor. Had long black hair and black eyes, one of which was behind a green tinted device. He also seemed to have so sort of furry belt.

"Ah, there you are Kakarot!" he said, while looking at Goku "I've been searching all over for you." he explained.

"Kakawhat?" asked a very confused father "I'm Goku."

"Goku? What nonsense is that? And why haven't you carried out your mission?!" demanded the unknown man.

Feeling a little bold with Goku by her side, Bulma spoke "Look, buddy, you're not making any sense!"

The man didn't even spare her a glance "Quiet woman, I'm speaking with my brother." he barked.

Four shouts of "Brother?!" only served to confuse the man, but what drew his attention was a quiet, confused question "So that's my uncle?"

He turned to see Gohan, while the boy's mother was doing her best to hide her kid behind her, Gohan wouldn't budge. He stood in front of Bulma because even if he didn't really understand what was going on, though no one did, his dad had been worried about her just a while ago.

"A child?! Kakarot has a child, how interesting..." he mussed, before letting out a quite chuckle "Who would have thought my little brother would be the first to start on reviving the Saiyan race?"

Krillin raised an eyebrow and asked "What's a Saiyan?"

The sneer on the man's face was a clear sign that he thought low of the bald monk, but he answered anyway "The Saiyans are an almost extinct race of warriors. We were mercenaries hired to destroy planets for whoever would pay, until our own world was destroyed by a meteor. There are only four Saiyan left, excluding this half-breed, me and Kakarot are two of them." he then smirked "If you still don't believe me, why do you think you have a tail?"

Then the fur belt on his waist unwrapped itself and revealed to be a monkey tail, much like the one Goku used to have.

"Oh, that... Well, I don't have it anymore..." said Goku, while rubbing the back of his head and grinning sheepishly.

Shock mixed with anger made their way to the man's face "WHAT!? How could you let that happen, Kakarot!?" he demanded

But this conversation was also starting to wear the other Saiyan's patience thin "I'm telling you, I'm Goku! I can't be a Saiyan, I was born on earth!"

"Actually Goku..." interrupted Master Roshi, gaining everyone's attention "If I remember correctly Gohan, your grandfather that is, once told me that he found you in a crater. Inside some kind of metal orb that fell from the sky..."

Goku, Bulma and Krillin were seriously considering demanding to know why the old man kept this to himself for so long, but chose to let him continue.

"He also told me that you were a very violent little boy, until one day you fell and hit your head. After you woke up, you were the Goku we know now." the old man explained.

"How pathetic, Kakarot!" growled the man "But I suppose it still can be fixed... As you know now, I am you're older brother Raditz. I came to get so you can help me destroy another planet close to this one."

"What!?" asked Goku "I would never join you in something like that!" he shouted.

Raditz let out an amused chuckle "Really?" he asked, setting his eyes on Bulma and Gohan "I don't remember giving you a choice!"

In the blink of an eye, the Saiyan was standing in front of his nephew and sister-in-law. Just as he reached for the boy, the man's face was deformed by a fist smashing against his cheek.

Raditz flew like he was hit by a bus and rolled in the air half a dozen times before righting himself.

"Big mistake, brother." Goku told him while glaring.

"My, my! It seems you do have some Saiyan in you, little brother!" Raditz said, while smirking "Shame it's for the wrong reasons and that's it's still nothing against a top class warrior like me." he laughed and disappeared again.

This time, Raditz showed up in front of Goku and kneed him in the stomach. A hard left cross against Goku's face sent the other Saiyan spinning, much like Raditz had gone before. And just as the earth fighter began to right himself, his brother appeared above him and kicked him down, into the ocean.

And just like that, he was in front of Gohan again "Now, come to your uncle." he told the boy, while chuckling.

Now Raditz didn't really know what to expect from this kid, but one of the most obvious responses, at least to him, was being attacked. And that's what Gohan did. He kicked from the side, at Raditz feet, trying to get him off balance. And he almost succeeded.

The older Saiyan's eyes were wide when he felt the power Gohan put into that blow. Although all it did was push Raditz leg a little to the side, that shouldn't have been impossible.

"How can you have that strength?" he asked "What are you, five?!"

But the boy didn't answer, Gohan just jumped and tried a front kick to his uncle's stomach. The man easily stopped the blow, and would have slapped the boy away, but Goku came in again, this time with a kick to his brother's stomach.

When Raditz hunched forward, his brother sent an uppercut to his jaw, sending the man flying. Goku followed his opponent and tried to elbow him in the face, but the blow was stopped by the man's arm.

Glaring at his brother, Goku shouted "You will stay away from my son!"

But the other Saiyan smirked "Make me, Kakarot!"

With a yell, Goku attacked his brother again and again, too fast for any of those watching to see. Raditz was able to stop or dodge most of his blows but his earlier confident smirk disappeared, replaced by a frown since he was hit quite a few times.

After dodging a particularly heavy kick from the other Saiyan, Raditz dashed backwards, away from Goku and began launching energy blasts at him. But the other Saiyan just roared and charged forward, slapping the energy attacks away from him. When he reached Raditz, Goku buried his fist on the man's face.

The older Saiyan flew completely out of control and all he could tell was that he was being punched again and again. Shouting at the top of his lungs, Raditz released all the energy he could muster and pushed Goku away.

Before the younger brother could regain his bearing, his opponent was in front him. Kicking and punching anywhere he could reach, Raditz didn't seem to think a whole lot during fights. He just wanted to do as much damage as possible.

With another shout, the Saiyan invader unleashed a powerful pointblank energy blast at Goku's stomach. A massive black cloud enveloped the younger Saiyan while the older one backed away and took a stance.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Goku's gi had been burned off on the entire front of his torso. It also showed that the father had his hands cupped on his side and an intense look on his face.

"What are you doing, Ka-"

"Kaaaaa Meeeee!" chanted Goku.

This only served to confuse Raditz more, but his eyes widened when the device on his face beeped loudly.

"What's that? How can there be so much power in it?" he gasped, while Goku chanted "Haaaaaa Meeee!"

His scouter had just told him that while Goku was just a little weaker then he was, that "thing" was not. It clearly had the power to kill him, and it was still growing. There was no way Raditz was going to let Goku finish that chant.

So just like that he appeared and pummeled his brother in the face with a knee, yet Goku refused to budge. In desperation, Raditz put all the strength he could in a kick he launched at the other Saiyan's face and it worked.

Goku was sent spinning and just are Raditz relaxed, the man stopped and shouted "HAAAAA!" while trowing his hands forward. The distance added by Goku's short flight was all that allowed Raditz to dodge, though not completely.

The blast left a nasty burn in the Saiyan's left arm, even though it barely touched it before Raditz pulled it out of the attack.

"My turn, little brother!" he shouted, before lifting his right arm and opening his hand.

A pale white ball appeared on his palm and the warrior smirked. Pushing it towards his brother, the older Saiyan shouted "Begone!" and unleashed a huge energy wave.

While Raditz laughed maniacally, the fact that he came to recruit his brother completely forgotten, Bulma, Kame, Oolong and Krillin gasped when Goku disappeared.

"What's wrong, mom?" Gohan asked, seeing tears on Bulma's face.

"Go-Goku..." she whined quietly.

Tilting his head to the side, the young child wondered what was wrong "But dad dodged it!" he told her.

"What?!" the three full-humans asked and, as if answering, Goku appeared and sent his brother flying as far as he could with a double kick.

"See! Dad's going to win!" cheered Gohan, smiling happily.

Wiping her almost tears, Bulma hugged her child "Of course he is, honey! He always does!"

Chasing after his brother, Goku really didn't know what to think. The simple truth was that he didn't want to hurt Raditz, but the man was obviously a danger to any around him, specially Goku's family. Elbowing the older Saiyan down, into the ocean, the younger brother made his choice.

Goku was going to let his brother go, but only after he had made clear that his family was absolutely of limits. The other brother though, couldn't believe what he was happening. His last attack had cost too much energy, he couldn't keep up with Kakarot now.

Raditz fell while cursing and launching energy blast at his opponents general direction, the few that reached their target were just slapped away. And then Goku was in front of him. Punching, kicking, kneeing, elbowing and even headbutting, the younger Saiyan made sure the other one knew the meaning of pain.

During this assault, the invader blacked out and fell to the ocean.

* * *

Raditz woke up a long time later, it was already dark and he found himself alone with his brother and next to his space pod.

"Ka-Kakarot!" he groaned, glaring at the younger Saiyan.

Ignoring the name he was being called, Goku explained the situation "I made sure you will live, but I want to think I made sure you'll also stay away from my family."

Getting up, while holding his sore, probably broken, ribs, Raditz glared one last time and moved towards the spaceship. Once inside, his eyes met Goku's and his lips broke into a dark smirk.

"You will pay for this, Kakarot." he warned "Prince Vegeta and Nappa won't let a weakling like you live and they are so much stronger then me, that I can't even touch them! This entire planet will burn!"

Laughing loudly, the Saiyan fled before Goku could say anything.

When he broke the Earth's atmosphere, someone spoke "You are correct about one thing, Raditz." Vegeta's voice came from his scouter "We won't let a peace-loving fool like Kakarot shame what's left of our race."

"Thank you, my pri-" he tried, only to be interrupted.

"Of course, the same is true about you. If you don't get any stronger." the voice continued.

The small movement Raditz made in surprise was enough for his entire body to ache, but he refused to complain, not right now.

His orders came "Find a planet close by and train. Train like a mad man because you will kill Kakarot, or I will kill you." there was some laughing on the other side, though it didn't come from Vegeta's throat "We'll pick you up in one year and then watch you brothers fight to the death."

* * *

"So there are more of them?!" yelled Krillin, in shock "And they're coming here!?"

A very somber Goku nodded, staring straight ahead and wondering what the hell they were going to do. He was sited on the couch of his and Bulma's living room. His wife next to him and Master Roshi and Krillin were in chairs.

"Are you sure he wasn't bluffing?" asked the monk "I mean, if they are that much stronger then him... Then wouldn't they be stronger then you?"

The Saiyan shook his head "We can't risk it." then he turned to his wife "Bulma, I'm going to need to step up my training." he told her, with a small smile.

Then he turned completely serious again "And I'm going to have to really start training Gohan."

"WHAT?!" demanded the mother "You can't be serious?! You want our baby to fight those, those mad men!"

"Of course I don't!" he shouted back, effectively silencing her "It's just... Son, get in here."

That statement confused everyone else, until the little boy walked inside the room.

"Young man!" began his mother, narrowing her eyes "We told you to go to your room!"

Before the half-Saiyan could defend himself, Goku spoke, ignoring Bulma's latest outburst "Son, I want you to spar with Krillin, real quick."

"Sure, daddy." nodded Gohan, though he was the only one.

"Goku? Why do you want me to fight your son?" asked Krillin, raising an eyebrow.

Getting up, pulling Bulma, and leading everyone outside to the soft grass, the father explained "I just want you to defend, Krillin. You'll see why."

Not thinking much about it, Krillin took a stance and watched as Gohan did the same. The boy's stance was solid, the monk and Master Roshi noticed. And then the child charged, kicking from the side at Krillin's legs.

The monk fell like a puppet who's strings were cut.

And then, the boy jumped, spun in mid air and fell, driving a heel on his opponents stomach. Crying out in pain, Krillin rolled away from the jumping and stomping attacks that came after him.

When he managed to get up, Gohan blurred in front of him (to all eyes but Goku's) and instinct took over. Trowing a punch and immediately panicking, the monk was relieved when it hit nothing but air. Until he was sent flying seven feet to his right, and felt a blow on his left ribs.

"That's enough, son. Well done." Goku praised with a smile, while Krillin tried to recompose himself.

"Goku! What have you been teaching our baby?!" shouted Bulma, she had specifically told him not to make Gohan any stronger! Not while he couldn't control it!

But the father only gesture for his son to answer.

"How to play-fight." Gohan told them.

Tilting his head to the side, Master Roshi inquired "Play-fight?"

"Yeah!" nodded the child with a smile "It's what you do when you want to fight and not hurt anyone."

Clutching his aching ribs, Krillin asked fearfully "You mean holding back?"

"Yes." confirmed Goku, getting the attention back to him "I always told Gohan that he was only allowed to hit anyone, but me, with half his strength."

Blinking twice, Bulma asked the important question "Does that include Krillin."

And it was a carefree child's voice that answered her "Yup! He's not daddy, after all."

* * *

It was a somewhat mismatched group that Bulma gathered, and took to the Look Out.

First, there were Krillin and Yajirobe. The second man was almost as short as the first, but had long, wild, hair reaching the small of his back and a katana tucked into his belt.

Tien Shinhan was a tall, bald and well built man. He wore a green tunic with red details and yellow boots, but most importantly, he had a third eye in the middle of this forehead.

Yamcha was another martial artist. He had a orange gi, like Goku's, and long dark hair reaching the small of his back. A couple of scars marked his face, but most importantly, his eyes kept jumping to Bulma.

Chiaotzu was very, very short. He was probably smaller then Gohan already, had completely white skin and big red cheeks. He wore a green and yellow uniform and a black and red cap.

They were all standing the Look Out, which happened to house earth's guardian, a Namekian named Kami.

"So... Bulma, baby, what are we all doing here?" asked Yamcha, not seeing Krillin twitch a little.

The blue haired woman leveled the former bandit with her best death glare, she took a menacing step forward and growled "I told you not to call me that anymore!"

The man raised both of his hands in a surrender gesture "Sorry, sorry! I didn't know you still were with Goku!"

"Well, I am!" she yelled "I am a married woman and a mother now, so-"

"WHAAT!?" this reaction also came from Tien and Chiaotzu.

Huffing and crossing her arms, Bulma complained "Why does everyone react like that?!"

Laughing nervously, Krillin rubbed the back of his head and tried to pacify the young mother. "It's just... We thought you would let everyone know, Bulma!" he explained, narrowing his eyes so the other men would agree. Of course, they did.

"So... How old is Goku's child?" asked Tien while raising an eyebrow.

Lifting her chin, the proud mother placed her hands on her waist and boasted "Four! And he's already stronger the Krillin!"

Three pairs of wide eyes turned to the monk. Just as Yamcha was about to make fun of the short monk, Kami showed himself, along with his friend and helper Mr. Popo.

"I have sensed him for a while now. Your boy is a lot weaker then his father." then, the Namekian eyed the assembled fighters "But Gohan is stronger then all of you."

Krillin had already accepted that fact, Yamcha was a too shocked to say anything and both Tien and Chiaotzu were angered that some four year-old was being called stronger then Shinhan.

"We will try to fix that." he continued calmly "We don't know when it will happen, but we now know that two aliens, both stronger the Goku are coming to our planet, in order to destroy it."

"S-Stronger the Goku?!" stammered out the former bandit.

Kami nodded and spoke again "Let the father teach his son, and my other half will train by himself, since he can't afford to allow them to destroy the Earth. Mr. Popo will take care of you all."

The Z-fighters blinked and the Namekian walked away. While their eyes were focused on the dark skinned man, Bulma simply left.

* * *

"I-I'm not sure I can fight like you did, daddy..." mumbled Gohan.

His father hadn't simply taken the boy to the Gravity Room and started training like a mad man. Goku took the time to explain everything to his son, from his own unwillingness to fight the last members of his race to his priorities.

The full Saiyan smiled a little and ruffled his boy's hair "I will do my very best so that you NEVER have to fight like that, Gohan." he explained "I will fight the Saiyan's along with my friends, but I want you to protect everyone who can't fight. Ok?"

Taking a deep breath, the child the asked "Like mommy?"

Nodding seriously, Goku answered "Specially your mom."

Taking another deep breath, Gohan promised himself he wouldn't fail. He didn't want to disappoint his dad, but most importantly he didn't want his mom hurt at all. Also... "Erasa too!" he mumbled quietly to himself, though his dad heard and smiled again.

"Ok, daddy! But I have a question!" he informed.

Tilting his head to the side, and showing exactly where his son picked up that habit, Goku gave the go ahead.

The boy looked around and asked "Why are we in the middle of nowhere, instead of the Gravity Chamber?"

"Because I want to teach you something very important, and doing so inside would destroy the gravity chamber." the father explained, then took his position.

Cupping his hands besides his waist, Goku chanted "Kaaaa Meeeee Haaaaa Meeeee HAAAAA!"

Trusting his hands forward, palms first, the Saiyan unleashed a deadly blue energy wave. It destroyed plenty of boulders in it's path before exploding against a particularly big one.

"That was the Kamehameha. It's my strongest technique and it can do a lot more damage then that." he then turned to his son with what was almost a glare "I don't want you to EVER use that technique against someone without my permission."

Gohan understood his father's worry simply by looking at what the attack did. And if he was sure that his daddy had been holding back. The child nodded, then imitated what he saw.

"Kaaaa Meeee Haaaa Meeee Haaaa!"

The half-Saiyan focused that fire he had always felt inside him. That power that Erasa and all his other friends swore they didn't have. He focused his energy between his hands and sent it forward when he finished the shout.

The result was a pale blue, thin, beam of energy that resulted in a small explosion when it hit the first boulder in it's path.

"Wow, Gohan!" Goku almost shouted with a smile "That's better then I did in my first try!"

Much to the father's delight, his son thanked him and proceeded to try again.

"Keep going until you can't do it anymore, son." he told the boy "Then you can have a nice long rest at home, while I go talk to another friend of mine."

* * *

It wasn't hard for Goku to find Piccolo, after dropping his son at their home. The Namekian was breaking any and everything around him, in what was clearly training.

"Goku!" he spat out, locking eyes with the Saiyan "What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

The other fighter narrowed his eyes a little and landed. Taking a fighting stance, he waited for his enemy to do the same, then charged.

In the blink of an eye, Goku was where he wanted to be. Right behind Piccolo. Placing a finger against the back of the Namekian's head, the Saiyan spoke.

"I was attacked yesterday, by an alien." he explained, while the wide eyed Namekian just stood there "He was almost as strong as me and a lot stronger then anyone else I've ever met. He told me that two other Saiyans, his and my race, are coming to our planet to kill everyone and sell it."

Slowly, Piccolo turned and stood face to face with Goku "And why should I care?" he demanded.

"Because they will kill you as well. I know you won't fight by my side, but I want you to train, because if I die, you are Earth's last hope."

Turning his back to Piccolo without any hesitation, Goku started to walk away.

"I saw your fight, Goku. And I will catch up, then I will kill you."

Though the Saiyan didn't answer, he just called for the Flying Nimbus and left in it.

It was late at night when Goku finished his own training in the Gravity Room. No longer was he going at his own pace, just a little harder each day. The Saiyan had pushed himself to his very limit, and would be doing the exact same thing tomorrow.

Though, on his way to his and his wife's room, Goku heard crying.

Following the sound, the Saiyan found his wife. Hugging her legs to her chest, Bulma was hiding her face on her knee and crying softly, in a corner of her office.

"Bulma! What's wrong?" he asked, appearing next to his wife so fast she could swear he reached her before the sound.

"Goku?" she asked. It took a few moments, but Bulma was able to gather her thoughts "It-It's just... I remember your fights, back when we were young... An-And I don't want Gohan to ever get hurt like that! And then I realized that I just kept throwing you at them so I could wish for a stupid boyfriend! And I fell terrible and my baby is going to fight and and..."

That's when she broke down and started crying again, though this time it Goku's chest. They stayed like that for a while, with Goku just rubbing circles on her back.

After some time, the Saiyan spoke "I fell guilty." he admitted, much to his wife's shock "This Saiyans are coming after me, so the two people who are in the most danger, besides me, are you and Gohan... Bulma, when you explained to me what marriage really was, do you remember what I told you?"

Nodding on his chest, she answered between sniffs "You told me that if you had to chose a woman to protect and live with, it would be me."

"And when Gohan was born, I promise myself that I would get so strong that nothing would ever harm him. And that I would train him to be even stronger then me, so he could be safe after I was gone." after kissing Bulma's forehead, Goku continued "And now, one of the biggest treats to the two most important things in my life is my brother."

He shook his head, and whispered "I fell like it's my fault."

Moving quickly, the blue-haired woman kissed her husband on his lips, then snuggled into his chest "It's not your fault Goku, nothing bad ever is..." she chuckled a little "No matter how much it seems..."

Turning serious, she looked straight into his eyes and continued "I will never regret marrying you, and I know you will keep us safe. I'm just scarred... But I'm not going to just sit here and cry!" Bulma said, with new found determination "I'll get daddy's help and we'll update the Gravity Room so often you'll never reach the limit! Then you'll wipe the floor with those guys and everything will be perfect again!"

Hugging her husband as hard as she could, Bulma stayed like that until she fell asleep and Goku carried her to bed.

AN: Yup. Dragon Ball Z. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you guys. I don't much care for Chichi. I truly don't hate her like a lot of DBZ fans seem to... But that's probably just because she's a fictional character. I would hate to have to be in the same room as that woman.

So... I... Kicked her out.

Whatever. The idea behind this story is for Gohan, and it is supposed to be a story focused on Gohan, to be born into a family that loves him, yes, and can be overprotective at times, of course, but that let's him do what he wants. Within reason.

Of course Gohan is not going to be a brain-dead moron, but he doesn't have to develop his famous intellect unless you want to.

If anyone picks this up, I just ask you, like always, to really give it a try. Vegeta doesn't have to be the Saiyan survivor. Raditz and Nappa don't have to die. The Z-Fighters don't have to go to Namek just yet.

We can write whatever we want. So, do whatever you want.


	3. Chapter 3

A Gathering: A Weapons Master's Promise

AN: Wow... I had fun writing this one. If there's anything in coherent or misspelled is because I wrote it all today and simply can't wait to post it. I did double-check it, but I liked the story too much to pay too much attention to the details while reading it. Please read it all and I'll explain most of my reasoning in the end.

* * *

Naruto smiled largely to himself 'This is gonna be great! Those bastards aren't gonna know what hit'em!' he told himself, while running through the woods towards a clearing he knew how to find.

Now, usually, when this particular eight year-old smiled and told himself something along those lines, someone was going to be the victim of a prank. But it wasn't the case, this time.

Naruto had his arms filled with weapons, kunai and shuriken, thankfully un-sharpened.

He almost frowned, thinking of when Sora-Sensei took away his shuriken during weapons practice "You are going to hurt yourself, or someone else." the mean old-man had told him. Just because he had missed the target!.. And the wood it was painted on...

Anyway, the boy bounced back, he always did, and smiled again.

'I'm gonna practice all night and then I'm gonna be able to score a bull's-eye every time! So nobody is gonna make fun of me! Believe it!' he yelled in his head, just because he didn't want to swallow his own spit by yelling and running at the same time.

And he found the clearing he was looking for, but it wasn't empty. There was a girl there, so focused that she didn't hear the noise he made. Naruto almost called her out, to ask what she was doing here. But he didn't. Because he saw her leg.

Her, single, one leg.

Her left arm was wrapped around a crutch, making it hold most of her weight. Her right leg was barely touching the floor and even Naruto saw the twitches it made for what they were. Pain.

He swallowed and watched as the girl breathed deeply and gripped a kunai hard, with her right hand. She pulled her arm and tensed it, holding the kunai to the left side of her face.

'Just like Sora-Sensei showed us.' Naruto realized, before blinking at the weapon she was holding.

It wasn't straight. Nor was it very sharp-looking. It looked like the blacksmith had just beat a small steel bar until it looked enough like a triangle.

And when she threw it, not only did she fall, the kunai just spun around it self until it hit the tree. Then, it fell down without leaving any mark whatsoever. Naruto blinked, seeing dozens of similar kunai gathered in within a foot of the tree.

'How long-' his question was quickly forgotten when he heard the girl crying. First so softly that he had to strain to hear, then so loud that he didn't believe people told _him _to stop yelling.

She didn't even say anything. The girl just swallowed air and tears before turning them into one of the most saddening sounds the Uzumaki had ever heard. It had to stop. He had to stop it.

"Oi! Don't cry!" he found himself shouting so loudly that the girl turned, startled. Her eyes still red, her nose still running and her throat still sobbing.

The boy knew he had very little chance of cheering her up, he could take a very obvious guess at what she was crying about. But he didn't know what she was doing here, why she was here... Or anything about the situation, actually.

But he had to do something. Uzumaki Naruto remembered crying like that, but with him... There was no one to listen. There was nobody to help and it just couldn't be allowed to happen again.

So he threw all of his new weapons, the ones he used up most of his savings in, in front of her "Look! Here! You can use mine! They're a lot better!" the blond boy told the brown haired girl, all the while giving her a ten thousand suns smile.

Of course, she didn't stop crying. The girl just shook her head and started wailing loudly again.

Naruto, he got a little desperate "Please! Don't cry! I'll do anything! What do you need?! I just want to help you!" he yelled, kneeling besides the fallen girl.

He didn't notice how long it took, but the boy apologized and begged her to stop a hundred times before her sobbing started to sound like words.

He barely made out the one full word she repeated again and again "Daddy?" he tried to confirm.

"T-They! Our h-home!" she cried some more before continuing "B-B-Blew up-p-p! C-Can't! I! C-Can't m-make weapons! I can't train! I-I wanted!"

The Uzumaki could only stare in horror, trying to piece together whatever happened and watching the short-haired girl pounding her fists against the floor.

"Tsunade! Ju-Just a-as good as a BOY! Daddy! Daddy! T-Told h-him I wa-was going to ma-make..."

Tear gathering in his eyes, not of understanding but of sympathy, Naruto started talking again. A lot lower then he usually did "Tell me. Then, I'm going to make it happen! Just tell me!"

Her brown eyes looked so tired, so very, very tired. But she answered "W-Was going to... Make o-our shop famous... Just l-like daddy said... Now." her voice sounded horrible to Naruto's ears. It sounded like she was one second away from tearing her throat out with one of the pieces of metal around them "I can't forge them. I can't use them. Everything is gone."

Unwanted and unstoppable, images flooded the blond's mind. He could see her, trying to move, trying to wobble around to heat the metal and beat it into shape. He could see, in his mind, her falling down, and with his eyes, the burns in her arms and hands.

"Not everything." he spoke with such force, that her full attention was dragged to him. The boy reached into a sack behind her, one that held even more useless kunai then she had already thrown.

He picked one, clenched his fist around it. Yelled. And stabbed it into his leg with as much force as he could.

The girl watched with wide eyes. She saw the blunt weapon stop at the muscle, but there was still plenty of blood "See? They work. So I'm gonna learn how to use them." he told her, blue eyes, filled with tears and determination, destroying any doubt that maybe have survived the power of his voice.

"Because I'm gonna be Hokage someday. I'm gonna be greater then any of the old geezers that came before me. I'm gonna get so famous that any weapon I touch, is going to be famous too! And then, I'm going to tell everyone where to buy the weapons you are going to make me! What your dad wanted! We'll make it happen! I promise. And it's the promise of a life time." he swore, tears flowing freely from his eyes. Both in pain and sympathy.

Her mouth almost worked, she could almost ask who did he think he was. Did he really think that was going to work out? That it was going to fix everything? She almost asked, but Naruto still had to finish.

"Dattebayo!(Believe it!)" he swore, to her, to fate and to the entire world.

* * *

"Sora."

The middle-aged man blinked and looked up, away from the test he was currently grading. What he found didn't please him.

In the doorway, stood Uzumaki Naruto, fourteen years-old and the very best Bukijutsu (Weapons Technique) student Sora had ever heard of. He was also the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, something not easily forgotten.

The Uzumaki wore baggy black pants, filled with more pockets then one could count and an orange, sleeveless, chinese martial-arts shirt. No one could figure out were he kept all his weapons, most being to big for his pockets.

The teacher remembered when the boy had first entered the academy, back when Uzumaki was eight years-old. No talent, no manners, no brains and too eager to please. It had been nerve wreaking being that close to a Biju's prison, but like all humans, Sora adapted.

And the kid changed, plenty. He suddenly started scoring well in weapons tests and stopped caring for the people around him. He would, most of the time, show up to class and leave right after. Uzumaki was one of the worst students a teacher could have, but he seemed to have a goal and rushing towards it seemed to be working.

All that did nothing to stop the frown from covering the teacher's face "Don't talk to a teacher like that, brat."

Naturally, the blond ignored him "I need you to teach me the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)."

Gritting his teeth at the demand, Sora answered "I reviewed that Jutsu two days ago, in class, and you weren't there."

"Tch!" the blond started, before his teacher could say anything "It doesn't matter if you explain the theory again! I can't do the useless thing!"

"If it's so useless, why do you want to learn it?" the rather annoyed older man asked.

And Uzumaki stared at him like he was stupid "Because it's going to be part of the graduation exam."

Sora could only sputter in response, before demanding an explanation "How the hell do you know that?!"

"Doesn't matter!" the blond barked "I NEED you to teach me!" and then he did something no one would believe without seeing.

Uzumaki Naruto knelt down and touched his forehead to the floor "Please, Sora-Sensei! I NEED TO GRADUATE!" he shouted, pressing his palms to the ground as well. Begging.

"W-Why?"

"I need to learn under a jonin! I need to be stronger!"

And the teacher didn't know that to say. Was this the same kid he had taught all this years? The Naruto who slept through every theoretical lesson and volunteered for every spar? The prideful little bastard that not even the Hyuga genius could make kneel?

So, he just asked again "Why?"

The blond took a deep breath, and in his desperation, told the chunin of his most important promise "I need to become so powerful, that any weapon I wield will become legendary by extension."

Like a fire, understanding spread quickly and wildly through Sora. The blond started showing skill in Bukijutsu around the time he started showing up with those horribly made kunai and shuriken. Those same kunai and shuriken he would beat someone black and blue for pointing the flaws of.

The same kunai and shuriken he tried to use on Sora once.

The teacher had, grudgingly, admitted to himself that the blond had some real skills in Shuriken Jutsu about two years ago. So, he told the brat that he could maybe be the best in class, when it came to that, if he found some decent weapons.

Uzumaki had immediately demanded that he apologized. Sora, of course, said no. And after some yelling, the boy had charged him and the teacher took out some of his frustrations on the container. It had finished with the chunin holding the kid's arm in a perfect grapple and telling HIM to apologize.

Uzumaki had roared in anger and broken his own arm to escape.

It hadn't endeared the kid to the local population, the academy student that stabbed a teacher. Even if the Hokage had announced that they had been sparring.

"And those legendary weapons... Why are they so important?" he asked, starring at the head Naruto kept low.

The answer came within a second "Because she makes them."

* * *

"From today, you are genin!" shouted Maito Gai at the top of his lungs "I'd like to hear your goals, yes!"

His eyes first fell on the Hyuga genius, the Rookie of the Year, Hyuga Neji.

"I don't want to answer..." was all he got for his trouble.

But before he could dwell on that, another one of his future students, Rock Lee, shouted while raising his hand "SENSEI! I WANT TO PROVE... THAT YOU CAN BECOME A GREAT NINJA EVEN WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO USE NINJUTSU OR GENJUTSU! THAT IS EVERYTHING TO ME!"

And the genius couldn't contain himself "Heh..." he allowed, knowing that it would anger the other boy.

Before Lee could shout something as an answer, Gai's last student spoke. Only the jonin had noticed that focus the blond had given the dead-last, without even turning his eyes to the Hyuga "I will become so deadly, that my weapons will be talked about for a hundred years."

And Gai was glad. The eyes he found in Lee and Naruto were the very example of YOUTH! He swore to himself, that he would, one day, make his last student as youthful as the other two. Or fight Kakashi with his hands tied behind his back.

"YOSH! Those are great dreams! My youthful students, I must be honest with you now." he started shouting, but then spoke with a grave voice "You are not genin yet."

Lee was clearly shocked, while the other two looked either annoyed or angry.

"Why not?" Uzumaki barked in a rude voice, that didn't bother Gai at all.

The older man cleared his throat and explained "Because! I must test you first! To see if you have what it takes for me to make you into great ninja!"

"Oh! What must we do, sensei?" Lee asked, staring wide eyed.

Then, with a bright smiled and a thumbs up, Gai explained "You must train! As we would everyday! Tonight, when we are done... You will tell me if you wish to learn from me, Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Moju (Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey), or go back to the academy."

The Hyuga still had his browns furrowed, wondering what kind of test was that "That's all? We decide if we pass..?" he asked.

"Yes! My darling, future, students! Meet me in Training Ground 10 as soon as you can!"

And so he was gone.

"Wow..." Lee was the one to voice their wonder "D-Did you guys see him move?"

Naruto smirked and answered "No. This is going to be great!" he announced and jumped off towards the nearest roof, towards where he knew the training grounds to be. When he landed alone, the blond looked up to see both his teammates starring at him "Come on, Lee! Let's go!"

Caught completely by surprise, at being addressed instead of the Rookie of the Year, Lee took a second to answer "YOSH!" and jumped after the aspiring Weapon's Master.

* * *

Gai didn't just watch as his students did pull-ups, hanging on branches high above the ground. He did even more of the exercise, right next to them.

He didn't even count how many they had done, he just watched having regulated the last exercises so that the least physically ready of his team would fail in this one. And so it was. Hyuga Neji stretched his arms but simply couldn't pull himself up again. It wouldn't be long before he fell.

"Neji-kun? Are you alright?" the jonin asked, in his usual outdoor voice. And brought the other two genin's attention to the struggling one.

The Hyuga grit his teeth, embarrassed of being single out for something bad "Ye-Yes." the spit out, managing to pull himself up one more time.

"Liar." Naruto's voice was blunt and uncaring, unlike Lee he hadn't stopped working to watch "You're not fooling anyone."

Channeling his anger, the Hyuga forced his aching body to continue. But Uzumaki also continued speaking "We can see it, you know? Me, Lee and Gai. We know you're not made of the same stuff as us."

The genius glared at nothing, since he could barely hold himself up. He couldn't afford to look at the blond.

Then, he fell. Lee caught him.

* * *

The moon was high the sky and the hour was late, when Naruto got back to the merchant district. His feet quickly led him to a old, small and well-taken-care-of shop. The wood it was made of was mismatched, but none of it was rotten, broken or even scratched. The tiles on the roof varied in color, but they were all clean and whole.

"Tadaima! (I'm back!)" he shouted after entering, while locking the door.

He took the stairs behind the counter, ignoring the piles and piles of different weapons laying around. When he got to the tiny studio apartment above, he found Tenten dressed for bed but very much awake.

She smiled like it wasn't almost eleven o'clock "So? How did it go?" she asked, while placing her crutch against the wall and hoping over to grab Naruto's arm.

He smiled back "Good enough. I got grouped up with Lee and the Hyuga asshole." he explained, while heading to the small table next to the window, the girl leaned on him and followed with experiment movements. He found a meal of, cold, ramen and some red been paste.

"Ha! Did you think I needed cheering up?" he laughed loudly, truly glad that she was with him.

The girl blushed a little, but Naruto wasn't looking "As if! I just wanted to loosen up your tongue, so tell me everything!"

"Sure, sure. Well... Our teacher's a real freak but I liked him..."

The pair would talk until early morning, about a thousand different subjects. Then, they would fall asleep in the bed they had shared for five years now.

* * *

In less then a second, Naruto swung the mace above his head. And using that momentum, hammered the right side of Lee's guard. The other boy stumbled, but didn't fall and before Naruto had a chance to capitalize, he was forced to dodge.

He jumped back and launched half a dozen shuriken towards the pursuing Hyuga and Neji took only a moment to strike them all away, his fingers pushing the sides of the weapons. And while he did so, his byakugan allowed him to see the iron mace Naruto had launched at him.

But seeing and dodging are two different things, so the genius still had his shoulder struck by the heavy weapon, despite his best efforts to avoid it.

Not that Uzumaki was looking, he was too busy dodging Lee's ever stronger Goken (Strong Fist), he waited and watched until the perfect moment. His opponent over reached and the blond grabbed the offending arm.

He flipped Lee over his shoulder and smashed the other boy heavily against the floor. When the dust cleared, Lee was somehow completely wrapped in ninja wire.

And not having the byakugan, Naruto was caught completely by surprise when his right ribs exploded in pain.

The Weapons Expert flew far and rolled in the ground before stopping. But when he did, it was somehow in a standing position. Blue eyes quickly found his second teammate charging him.

Naruto pushed the air in front of him, and from somewhere even Neji couldn't see, more then two dozen senbon flew.

The genius stopped and trusted a palm strike against the empty air and with a small application of chakra, the light weapons were stopped.

He charged again, just like Naruto.

The blond moved fast, spinning a fuma shuriken around his right wrist. Blue eyes focused on his target, prepared to cut through muscle, bone and organs.

The opponent ran just as fast, his right arm left to trail after the body. He would whip it fast to gain momentum and strike the heart.

"YOSH!" announced Maito Gai, from his place, suddenly between the two teammates "A most youthful spar, it's great to see how driven you three are! My dear students!" he told them, in his usual loud voice, as if he hadn't just used his bare hands to stop a spinning blade and a perfectly executed Juken (Gentle Fist) strike.

Neji didn't say anything, displeased that he couldn't find out who fate favored, him or the Uzumaki.

"Thanks..." Naruto mumbled, not wanting to look like this least favorite comrade.

"You are most welcome, Naruto-kun! But now, I must talk to you about something important." the man's voice turned grave and he clasped both of the blonds shoulders "As your teacher, Naruto-kun, I must make sure you grow healthy in mind and body. Part of that, is making sure you live well when away from our youthful training. I wish to visit your home." he explained.

The blond frowned for a moment, then blinked and decided "That's fine. But you're gonna have to buy something."

Completely confused, Gai asked "Buy? What?"

Naruto raised and eyebrow and pulled a kunai form somewhere. He spun it, with his finger in the ring attached to the handle, and said "I live in a weapons shop. If you're gonna visit, you are gonna get in the way of her work. If you're gonna get in the way of her work, you're gonna buy something."

And Gai clenched his fist right above his heart "Ah! The truths that come from youthful mouths! I promise you, Naruto-kun, that from now on, should I interrupt another person's honest work then I will always make it up to them! If I can't, then I shall drop down and do a thousand pushups!" he announced, taking up a 'Good Guy' pose.

"YOSH!" Lee shouted, startling both Naruto and Neji with how much he sounded like Gai "I promise the same! And if I can't, then I shall pay the very same price!"

And Naruto? He threw his head back and laughed "Fine, fine! It's only fair! This once, I promise the same!"

* * *

"Tadaima!" Naruto shouted, while he crossed the open door to find an empty shop.

The rest of team Gai was surprised with the amount of weapons laying around. Entire crates filled with kunai and shuriken, dozens of katana and tanto were scattered inside their scabbards. Maces, staffs, hammers, scythes, daggers and ninja wire were all proudly displayed.

Gai's critical eye found flaws in most of them, some more then other. But not a single flaw coming from lack of effort, from misuse or from carelessness. They all looked like weapons made by a genius, with no teacher.

He was, understandably, surprised when a young girl's voice answered his student "Naruto! Okaerinasai (Welcome back)! Why are you home so early?"

"Gai wants to make sure I'm not living in my filth." the blond explained easily, with his usual outdoor voice, before turning to his team "Wait here." he told them and walked to the back of the shop.

There was silence, until Neji of all people, said "His weapons... I wonder if he gets them all here."

"Hai." Lee was the one to answer "Naruto-kun once told me that every one of his weapons is a treasure, because _she _makes them. But I do not know who _she _is."

They quickly found out, when Naruto came back. He was carrying a huge box, filled with senbon, pressing it against his chest with his left arm. His right arm was being held by a girl that came beside him. She moved by hopping instead of walking and Lee wondered why she was holding her leg up...

Until Neji made a noise of surprise and Lee realized that the girl's leg wasn't bent at the knee, it stopped just a little before it.

"Tenten, this is team Gai." he explained, ignoring the shocked looks the other men had "Guys, this is Tenten. The best blacksmith in Konoha."

The girl smiled a little, knowing that even if it wasn't true Naruto wouldn't stop saying it, and turned to the rest of the team "Hello, nice to meet you! Thank you for taking care of Naruto!" she told them, pretending she didn't see the shocked look Lee still wore.

Gai didn't yell, but his smile was strong and his voice boomed like always "Yosh. You are most welcome, Tenten-san. And it is nice to meet the person that gives Naruto-kun his strength and youth."

Blushing a little, the bun-haired girl was forced to hop when Naruto moved to place the box in a counter "W-What? I mean-"

"I fight for nobody else." the blond interrupted her, not looking at the embarrassed girl but not looking the least ashamed "And I don't hide it."

* * *

Every genin in team Gai was breathing heavily. Neji Hyuga had one of his eyes swollen shut, but that didn't stop his byakugan from seeing everything. One of Rock Lee's arms was useless, hanging lifeless, while the other was held in the traditional Goken stance. His new green jumpsuit already stained. Uzumaki Naruto had a kunai in his mouth, stuck there by the strength of his jaws biting the handle, and one in each hand, both held in a reverse grip. His breathing looked more pained then the other two.

The Iwa Chunin in front of them looked amused. The man had a huge, cylindrical bracelets around each arms but wore the standard uniform of his village, a dark red bodysuit with a brown flak jacket "Do you kids know what's funny about Konoha ninja? Some of you guys are really fucking good-" his speech was interrupted by a huge explosion to the east of their position, probably coming from where Maito Gai was fighting two elite jonin "Like your teacher. And someone of you assholes, just coast along... Riding on the fame your heroes bring."

"That so?" Naruto spit out, through the kunai and a broken rib.

"Yeah." the chunin confirmed, nodding sagely before uncrossing his arms and stretching one of them "I'm really glad I can kill you brats before one of you turns into a hero."

And Neji moved, spinning to the side and hitting the ninja, who as suddenly besides him, in the chest with a palm strike. The Doton Bunshin (Earth Release Clone) exploded and launched mud everywhere, it hardened in a second and locked the Hyuga in place.

In less then a second, Naruto was on the other side of his comrade and the hardened mud exploded, the blond having cut all of it from his ally. He turned to see the chunin with his arm pulled back and ready to hammer the weapons expert into nothing, until Lee intercepted the attack with a punch of his own.

Just like last time, something in the genin's arm broke and it started refusing orders while the bracelet the chunin wore exploded in a shower of rock.

The Iwa ninja just started the chain of seals that would remake his weapon.

But team Gai knew it was coming and they wouldn't allow it to happen again. Uzumaki pulled his left hand suddenly and with all the strength he could muster. The hidden ninja wire attached to his kunai and the chunin's remaining bracelet answered and the man was send tumbling forward, straight into Neji.

The genius didn't hesitate for a second, he rained Juken blows where ever he could reach. And the enemy answered with a high kick, despite his lack of balance, that Neji just managed to block. It still managed to send him stumbling back.

So Naruto pulled on his other kunai, and the ninja wire dragged the Iwa ninja's other leg. The man fell on his back, looking up to see the recovered Hyuga finishing a spinning blow.

Neji struck the downed man with a textbook finisher and was only rewarded with the target turning into dirt.

"Gather!" he shouted, and entered a triangular formation with his team. They covered the others' backs "He's underground, circling us."

Obviously, the chunin went after the most damaged foe "Lee! From below!" Neji warned and his teammate didn't even consider hesitating.

A perfect rising kick smashed the charging man's chin and the enemy was sent spinning, upwards and away. When he started falling, Naruto was already running below him.

The blond jumped, as high and as fast as he could, and smashed against the flailing chunin. Then, he pushed the body in midair and fell on his feet. The chunin crashed down, all three of Naruto's kunai stuck on the right side of his torso.

"Neji?!" he barked, with a questioning tone, having already armed himself with a pair of Tessen (Iron Fan).

The Hyuga took a second to study the target "He's alive, but he's dying." he warned them "Be careful. Even a cornered dog will bite."

"Fucking brats-" the Iwa shinobi's cursing was interrupted by him having to dodge the blond's sudden assault. He dodge a combo and tried to punch back, only for the genin to close one of his fans and bat the chunin's hand away as if it was a club.

The opened fan was swung in a downward motion, but was only able to cut through the enemy's flak jacket "I'm an elite chunin!" he shouted, mad with rage, before being forced to dodge the one with useless arms.

The teen with the bow cut had jumped and spun around his torso, launching a spinning kicked that missed the chunin's head my a centimeter. Then, when he fell, having no working arms to land on, the brat simply twisted and launched himself from the floor. Both his feet impacted against the target's stomach and the man was sent stumbling back.

That's when Neji landed next to him. The Iwa ninja curled himself around his vital organs and weathered the barrage, jumping away as soon as he could.

He landed with a useless arm, only to have the tendons in his legs cut by Naruto's tessen.

The genin of team Gai surrounded him, all hurt but strong. They watched the man curse them, Gai and Konoha.

When Naruto decided to move for the kill, the man laughed "HAHAHAHA! GENIN LIKE YOU!" he shouted "I'LL BE A HERO FOR ENDING YOUR CARRERS!" his useful hand formed half a ram seal, and then the Iwa chunin slammed his palm against the breast of his flak jacket. The entire surface was filled with seals in a second.

Neji saw the chakra built up and understood "Run! It's a suicide jutsu!"

And so, they did. Each in one direction, the genin ran as fast as they could. Neji focused all the chakra he could in the muscles of his legs, Lee had lost his weights long ago and Naruto dashed, leaving behind his heavy fans. Tenten could make him more.

The explosion wasn't unlike the one's of the two jonin fighting Gai, members of the Explosion Corps.

Not unlike the one that took Tenten's leg.

The three genin gathered in ground zero, all singed and hurt but standing on their own power.

"It seems it wasn't his fate to kill us." Neji stated, as they looked at the crater the Iwa chunin left behind.

There were scorch marks on the earth, blood spilled as far as thirty feet away and some guts littering the area. Naruto smirked "I can't wait until Konoha knows that her weapons drove an elite Iwa chunin to suicide. He knew he couldn't fight them." he explained, as if the battle had been that simple.

* * *

"And so, while I dealt with the most un-youthful ambush, my dear students defeated an elite Iwa chunin in open combat!" Gai explained to his eternal rival, while they both watched the three genin continue their training.

Neji isolated himself in a corner of the clearing and struck a straw-dummy in repeated patterns as fast as he could.

Lee continued to drive his body to the utmost limit, having increased his weights after their first C-Rank.

And Naruto was training drawing and launching various types of weapons as fast as he could. Most of them not meant for throwing.

Kakashi knew their movements from his other senses, since his eyes were completely focused on his little orange book "Uh... Is that so?" he asked, though he could see how good the three teens were.

If there was such a title, and if he was a more honest person, he would call them 'elite genin'.

"Ah! So cool and hip, my eternal rival!" Gai admitted, clenching his fist and closing his eyes "But today even my pride surpasses yours, for my team's individual skills and teamwork have surpassed my most youthful dream!"

Down bellow, Lee's eyes were filled with tears as he heard Gai-sensei praise them all. It had taken everything he had, but Lee, the dead-last, had stood with the Hyuga genius and the Weapons Expert and defeated a much superior, in terms of both skill and experience, shinobi.

And after, when Gai-sensei had told them how he defeated TWO elite jonin sent to assassinate him, the man had turned to Lee and clarified "I made sure to use only Taijutsu."

The dead-last's respect for his teacher had been huge before, but know it that admiration had turned into hero-worship. He wanted to be like Gai in every possible way.

"Naruto-kun!" he shouted, bringing everyone's attention to him "Like Gai-sensei has grown and trained to match his eternal rival, Hatake Kakashi, I too wish to compete against the one rival I respect the most! I declare you, Uzumaki Naruto, to be my eternal rival! Like Hatake-san is to Gai-sensei!"

Naruto regarded Lee with a serious look, one that only fell on his face during matters of life and death. Or whenever a slightly serious topic had anything to do with Tenten. He walked to the green clad genin and clasped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Lee." he started, blue eyes focused on black "I accept. I will challenge you and I will face your challenges until one of us dies. Our rivalry will fuel the legends of her weapons, because one day only her steel will be as deadly as your fist." he announced, brimming with so much youthful energy that even Neji and Kakashi could see it.

"But." now he looked pissed, just as serious and powerful. And pissed "Don't. You. Ever. Compare. Me. To. That. Fucker."

There was silence for a moment, before Naruto continued "I will never stop moving. I will never stop growing. I'm NOT some genius that will get by on Kekkei Genkai. I worked just as hard as you, Lee, and for a dream that's even more impossible."

He pulled his hand from his rival's shoulder and walked back to where he was training. He quickly began drawing his weapons and got back to practice "I'm not some genius that you will beat through hard work. We're both_ made _of will-power and we will show the world a level that a genius can never reach." he promised, not stopping his training.

And Lee answered "I promise, Naruto-kun. My eternal, youthful rival! I PROMISE!"

* * *

AN: I think Naruto's opinion on Kakashi might piss some people off, so I'll explain that first.

I don't like the character. I think he's boring, annoying and I disagree with how he deals with pretty much every issue he has. Truth be told, it's not _his _fault. If 'The Teacher' is competent in any story, then the main character never has a challenge (the only series that I know that managed to pull that off is History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi), it's the same problem I have with the Harry Potter series.

But really, what annoys me about Kakashi is that Kishimoto still tries to make us like the guy, make us think he's cool. And he fails, in my opinion. Kakashi is just boring and unreliable.

Now, Naruto has only expressed himself that way because he wants everyone to understand that he will never treat Lee like Kakashi treats Gai. He knows there's some story between them, some reason why Gai doesn't just bitch-slap Kakashi, but he still finds it unforgivable. If someone picks that up, and wants to change that, you can make Gai explain their relationship to Naruto and have the blond understand.

Neji: Naruto doesn't hate him. He just doesn't acknowledge him. He doesn't know about the Caged Bird Seal, all he sees is an arrogant asshole whose personal philosophy means the most important person in Naruto's life, Tenten, should just go and die. You can have them work that out if you want, or not. Not everyone has to be friends and respect each other.

Tenten: I know I didn't write her a lot, considering how important she is to my main character, but that just because it's the most important relationship in this story and if anyone wants to continue this, then they need to decide how it goes. I just recommend you don't make her into a fighter. She lost a leg, the girl's not going to ever be better then a genin... And please don't pull some other-person's-limb-regeneration-power from the Kyuubi's ass.

I really hate when the main character solves every single problem in the entire universe, of the people the author's not bashing.

I don't recommend teaching Naruto any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, at most have him learn elemental chakra or channeling the Kyuubi's chakra through his weapons. I do get what people mean when they say it's stupid to focus on a single fighting style, but do you have any idea how many hours a day you need to devote to knife throwing to be 'pretty good' at it?

Anyway, I really hope someone picks this up. I fucking loved this plot-bunny.


End file.
